Political party Republican Role Businessman Occupation businessman | Religion Catholic Party Republican Party Name Richard Tarrant | |
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Full Name Richard Edward Tarrant Born August 6, 1942 (age 81) ( 1942-08-06 ) | ||
Education Saint Michael's College Organizations founded IDX Systems | ||
Richard Edward Tarrant (born August 6, 1942 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American businessman and politician. He was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from the state of Vermont in 2006, but lost the election to Representative Bernie Sanders. Tarrant and his wife Deborah reside in Colchester, Vermont where he is currently working on his charitable foundation.
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Early life
Tarrant graduated from Saint Michael's College in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. In college, he was a first-team All-American in basketball and led the Purple Knights to the Final Four of the 1965 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament, where they were defeated 93-70 by the University of Evansville, who had Jerry Sloan and Larry Humes, both All-Americans. In the consolation game of the same tournament, Tarrant played against Phil Jackson of North Dakota, who would go on to fame as a player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association. He was the fourth draft pick the world champion Boston Celtics, but was cut before the first game of the season. He went to work for IBM in Burlington, Vermont selling computer equipment in the northern part of the state.
Business career
In 1969, Tarrant and his business partners (Robert Hoehl and, later, Paul Egerman) founded Burlington Data Processing (BDP) using funds from a Small Business Administration loan. The company changed its name to Interpretive Data System (IDS) and later to IDX Systems Corporation. BDP initially provided payroll and claims processing for physicians. By 2005, IDX had contracted with thousands of doctors' offices across the country, and provided computer technology for much of the United Kingdom's medical centers.
Between 1995 and 2005, Tarrant was the chairman of the board of IDX. In 2006, IDX was purchased by General Electric for $1.2 billion. He currently resides in Colchester, VT with his wife where he works with his charitable foundation.
Tarrant served as a member of the University of Vermont's Board of Trustees for several years and on the Saint Michael's College Board of Trustees. Tarrant donated funds to Saint Michael's for a new athletic center that was named in his parents' honor.
Philanthropy
Tarrant and his wife have created the Richard E. and Deborah L. Tarrant Foundation, which make grants intended to enrich the quality of life and communities throughout Vermont. According to the organization's website, their "primary areas of focus are basic human services, education and community-based grantmaking." In 2005, the foundation was listed by the Grantsmanship Center as one of the top 40 Vermont foundations in charitable giving. It is worth noting, however, that the foundation is prohibited from making any donations to pro-choice groups.
Most recently, Tarrant's foundation invested in the Milton public school system where they provided monetary support for a pilot program ("Home School at School") that gave students an opportunity to learn at different paces.
In 2007, Tarrant's foundation gave $1 million towards the creation of a $1.8 million community center in Winooski, Vermont.
2006 campaign for U.S. Senate
In 2005, Tarrant announced his candidacy for the US Senate seat vacated by the retirement of Independent Senator Jim Jeffords. On September 12, 2006, he won the Republican nomination, defeating US Air Force Lt. Col. Greg Parke and marijuana legalization activist Cris Ericson. Tarrant faced Independent Representative Bernie Sanders in the November general election. Sanders, who won the Democratic nomination but ran as an Independent, defeated Tarrant by 33 percentage points. The race proved to be the most expensive race in Vermont history with both candidates spending close to $13 million. Tarrant spent roughly $7 million of his own money in the race and Sanders raised roughly $6.5 million and spent most of it. Tarrant's campaign was remarkable for its saturation of radio and television with a serial biography of the candidate and attack ads of Sanders.